Biography

The Cardinals fifth-round pick (155th overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft, Skelton has appeared in 13 games (11 starts) during his first two seasons and has a 7-4 record as a starter.

Pro Career:

The Cardinals fifth-round pick (155th overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft, Skelton has appeared in 13 games (11 starts) during his first two seasons and has a 7-4 record as a starter.

2011: Played in eight games and made seven starts with Kevin Kolb out due to injuries … completed 151 of 275 passes for 1,913 yards, 11 TDs and 14 INTs and finished third on the team with 128 rushing yards on 28 carries … led five game-winning drives in the final eight games of the season … went 5-2 as a starter and 6-2 when appearing in a game … after injuring his ankle during the preseason, was inactive vs. Car (9/11) … declared inactive for the next four games … active as the backup QB but did not play vs. Pit (10/23) and @ Bal (10/30) … with QB Kevin Kolb inactive due to a foot/toe injury, made his first start of the season vs. StL (11/6); completed 20 of 35 pass attempts for 222 yards and a game-tying 13-yard TD pass to WR Larry Fitzgerald in the fourth quarter; also led the team with a career-high 38 rushing yards on four carries, which included two runs of 14 yards each on the game-tying TD drive; was 5 for 6 passing for 47 yards on the game-tying drive; became the first Cardinals QB of the Super Bowl era (post-1966) to win his first three home starts … started for the second straight week @ Phi (11/13) and established career highs with 315 passing yards and three TD passes; marked his first career road victory as a starting QB; threw for 166 yards and two TDs in the fourth quarter, including going 5 of 8 for 100 yards and a five-yard TD to Early Doucet on the game-winning drive; became first Cardinals QB to throw for three TDs in a game since Kurt Warner did so vs. Minnesota on 12/6/09 and the first QB since Warner (11/10/08 vs. San Francisco) to throw for 300+ yards and 3+ TDs in a game … completed 12 of 23 passes for 114 yards and two INTs while making his fourth straight start for the injured Kolb @ StL (11/27); also had three carries for 18 yards, including a 13-yard scramble on 3rd-n-13 on the Cardinals go-ahead TD drive in the third quarter; improved to 3-1 as a starter this season … active as the backup QB but did not play vs. Dal (12/4) … came in after Kevin Kolb suffered a head injury in the first quarter and completed 19 of 28 passes for 282 yards, three TDs and two INTs vs. SF (12/11); also ran for 25 yards on six carries; had three completions of 45+ yards, including a 60-yard TD to Early Doucet and 46-yard TD to Larry Fitzgerald; his 3-yard TD pass to Andre Roberts in the fourth quarter was his third game-tying or game-winning TD pass in the fourth quarter in ‘11; established career highs with a 67.9 completion percentage and a 106.5 passer rating; became first Cardinals QB to come off the bench and throw at least three TDs since John Roach on 9/23/60 at L.A. Rams; completed 14 of 18 pass attempts for 195 yards and two TDs in the second half … with Kolb inactive due to a head injury, started and completed 28 of 46 passes for 313 yards, one TD and one INT vs. Cle (12/18); marked his second career 300-yard passing game and his second straight game with a completion percentage over 60%; established new career highs with 28 completions and 46 attempts; improved to 4-1 as a starter in ’11 and 5-1 when appearing in a game … made his second straight start for the injured Kolb and completed 23 of 44 pass attempts for 297 yards, two TDs and three INTs @ Cin (12/24); in the fourth quarter, completed 15 of 25 passes for 204 yards and two TDs as the Cardinals nearly rallied from down 23-0 after three quarters … made his third consecutive start and completed 22 of 40 passes for 271 yards with one TD and one INT vs. Sea (1/1/12); completed 4-of-4 pass attempts for 51 yards on the game-winning FG drive in OT; was 6-for-6 passing for 70 yards and a TD on third-quarter drive that gave Cardinals a 17-10 lead.

2010: After being the inactive 3rd QB for the first 11 regular season games, started four of the final five games played … saw first career action vs. StL (12/5), replacing an injured Max Hall with 12:17 left in the fourth quarter and completed three of six passes for 45 yards, including his first career completion—a 22-yard pass to Steve Breaston to convert a 3rd-n-16 … made first career start vs. Den (12/12), completing 15 of 37 passes for 146 yards while also rushing for nine yards on three carries; the last QB whose team scored 43+ points in his first career start was Tom Brady in 2001; became the first rookie from Fordham to start an NFL game since Kenny Parker started six games for NYG in 1970; dating back to the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, he became the seventh Fordham player to appear in an NFL game; marked fourth 2010 draft choice to start a game in ‘10 and sixth Cards rookie overall … in second career start, threw for a season-best 196 yards, completing 17 of 33 attempts with one INT while recording 10 yards on two carries @ Car (12/19) … completed 11 of 25 attempts for 183 yards with a 74-yard TD and ran the ball three times for 21 yards vs. Dal (12/25); recorded a season-best 82.6 QB rating; led the Cardinals game-winning drive by recording a five-yard run and completing 3 of 5 pass attempts for 51 yards, including a 26-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald on 4th-n-15; 74-yard TD pass was the longest TD pass by a Cards rookie QB since Gary Keithley @ NYG on 11/18/73 (80-yard TD pass to Mel Gray) … started the season finale @ SF (1/2/11), registering 92 yards on 14 of 25 passing with one TD and one INT while also totaling nine yards on two carries before leaving the game late in the third quarter.

College:Started 41 of 43 games for Fordham after taking over the starting duties midway through his freshman season … set school career records with 9,923 passing yards, 69 TD passes, 802 completions and 1,363 attempts … the 9,923 career passing yards were also a Patriot League record … led the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision with 3,708 passing yards in 2009 … totaled 12 games with more than 300 yards passing in his career, including four with 400 yards or more … two-time All-Patriot League selection, earning second-team honors in 2007 and first-team honors in ’09 … an All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) first-team choice in ’09 … had at least one TD pass in 30 of the team’s 34 games over his last three seasons and ranked in the top 10 nationally in pass efficiency rating in both ‘08 and ’09 … started all 11 games as a senior in ’09 and was an All-Patriot League first-team choice after leading the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision ranks with 3,708 yards (school record) … finished 10th in the nation with a 149.9 pass efficiency rating … established school single-season records by completing 284 of 441 passes (64.4%) … his 26 TD passes rank as the second-highest total in school history … added 85 carries for 120 yards and five TDs on the ground which gave him a school single-season record 31 TDs, the fourth-best season total in league history … established Fordham single-game records with 43 completions, 67 pass attempts, 427 passing yards and 473 yards of total offense against Holy Cross (10/31) … started all 11 games for the Rams as a junior and completed 228 of 372 pass attempts (61.3%) for 2,605 yards, 15 TDs and seven INTs … also added 85 yards and two TDs on the ground on 58 carries … ranked second in the Patriot League with an average of 244.5 yards per game in total offense … finished fourth in the nation with a 129.7 pass efficiency rating … as a sophomore, started all 12 games and earned second-team All-Patriot League honors after completing 216 of 383 pass attempts for 2,650 yards, 22 TDs and 11 INTs … added 275 yards and six TDs on 96 carries … ranked second in the league with an average of 220 yards passing and 243.8 yards in total offense per game … appeared in nine games as a true freshman in ‘06, starting the final seven games of the season … completed 74 of 167 pass attempts for 960 yards, six TDs and eight INTs … rushed for 83 yards and a TD on 56 carries.

Personal:Attended Burges (El Paso, TX) High School, where he and his younger brother, Stephen (a TE with the Cardinals), played and his father, John, served as an assistant coach … a multi-sport star, excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track … the first-team all-District I Class-AAAA and all-city selection was named Offensive MVP by the El Paso Times as a senior on the gridiron as he passed for 2,172 yards and 15 TDs … capped off his prep career as the starting QB in the 2006 All-State Game for the city of El Paso … in basketball, garnered all-city, all-district and all-region accolades … earned all-district honors in baseball four times, playing a different position each year … named to the all-city baseball team in 2006.